European Armenian federation deplores protocols with Turkey
03:2012/10/2009
BRUSSELS, October 12 (RIA Novosti) – The European Armenian Federation
for Justice is against the signing of historic accords between Armenia
and Turkey, the chairwoman of the federation said.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbanian and his Turkish counterpart
Ahmet Davutoglu signed protocols on diplomatic relations and on
bilateral relations Saturday at Zurich University. The documents are
still to be ratified by parliaments amid continued fierce opposition
from nationalist parties in both countries.
"We support the establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey,
but we stand against these protocols as they pose a threat to vitally
important interests of Armenia and the Armenian people," Hilda Choboyan
said in a statement.
According to her, such issues as the Turkish genocide of Armenians,
recognition of the borders between Armenia and Turkey as well as the
Nagorny Karabakh conflict were not taken into account during the
signing of the protocols.
"We call on the parliament of Armenia not to ratify the protocols in
their current unjust form," she added.
Turkey demands that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as
genocide.
Turkey also closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support
for Muslim ally Azerbaijan, following a bloody conflict over Nagorny
Karabakh between the two republics.
Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet
republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government and
is de facto independent.
Armenia and Turkey agreed to a "roadmap" to normalize their relations
under Swiss mediation this April. The draft pact between the countries
had been backed by the United States and European Union.